Candle in the Wind
by SilentMelody-xo
Summary: This is the story of Leah Clearwater and Jacob Black and how, for each other, they became the one thing they both needed most. A story of friendship, getting through tough times, and falling in love with someone you didn't expect too.
1. Chapter 1: The Beginning

**Hey guys! This is my first fan-fic, so don't be too hard on me! This is about Leah Clearwater and Jacob Black, who Stephenie Meyer kept hinting would get together. I personally love this couple and am part an RPG site where the two will end up together, so I decided to turn the plot ideas there into a story. I'm planning to turn this into a story with more than one chapter, and will be switching who's point of view it's written in each time I update. This is going to be a story of friendship, pain and suffering, seeing someone in a new light, and ultimately (eventually), falling in love.**

**Chapter 1: The Beginning (_Leah's PoV_)**

The sun was slowly setting, casting a warm glow over La Push, Washington that the Quileute reservation hardly ever got to see. When you lived in a place that was under a near constant cover of clouds and rain you learned to appreciate times like this that much more and got to see a different side of La Push that very few really ever thought about. But, when one took the time to think about it, it made life seem more beautiful and simple, or at least that's how it felt for me. My name is Leah Clearwater, and I have lived on the Quileute reservation my entire life so I can tell you better than anyone how truly beautiful this place is once you can get past all of the rain.

Today was one of those rare days when the sun overpowered the dark clouds that usually populated the sky, and had graced us with its presence. I had woken up to the warm rays shining into my room through my open blinds, shielding my eyes from the unexpected glow. It figured, the one night that I didn't shut my blinds before going to bed, the sun decided to show up and give us a break from all the rain. Once my eyes had basically adjusted, at least enough so I wasn't blinded, I stumbled out of bed and headed down to the kitchen to see my mother before heading out for a run. It had been part of my morning ritual even before I could remember and was something my father and I used to do together before he died. He was always on this kick about health, which was ironic considering the fact that he had high cholesterol which had caused the heart attack that killed him only a few weeks ago. It hurts to think about, since my mother never knew about it, and was under the impression that he was extremely healthy. Whenever my mother thought about it now she locked herself in her room, and if Seth or I ever walked by her door we'd hear her crying. It seemed to be part of her nightly routine, and we always found ourselves at a loss for what to do to help her.

That was how this morning was, and I knew exactly where she was when I walked into the kitchen to get a water bottle from the fridge and she wasn't there to say good morning to me. Sighing, I decided to get myself out of the house as quickly, if only to escape the depressing atmosphere that my mother's pain surrounded the house with. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying my mother's grieving was a bad thing since everyone has a right too after suffering such a loss, but it made it hard for me to stay strong for her when I could hear her sobs echoing through the house. Plus, being there these days made me think of my father, and that in itself got me started with the tears and caused me to lose focus on everything else in my life that needed my attention, like the pack. So, I snatched the water bottle I had come for from the fridge, pulled on my running shoes and headed out the door. My destination was First Beach, the one place that felt like a sanctuary to me, the one place I was free to think for myself and let my own pain and tears surface.

As I drove, I couldn't help but feel mystified and confused, not exactly sure what to think. The shattering of my once perfect world was something I had not been expecting any time soon, and to have it happen now the way it had was not sitting well with me at all; it wouldn't sit well with anyone who was in my current situation. It was a new experience for me to feel so horribly broken, and I wasn't sure if my heart could ever be whole again. When Sam had walked out my front door so many years ago and never turned around, he had taken a piece of my heart along with him, a piece that I was never going to get back, and that was going to leave a permanent hole. Now, that same thing had happened with my father's death, and I could feel the hole getting bigger, ripping my heart apart and making me feel like it would never heal. I hadn't had much time to grieve since I'd been catering to pack duties, and my thoughts were being constantly haunted by memories of my father, which was a lot worse than the pack having to hear my depressing thoughts about Sam. It was hard for me to try going back to the person I used to be when my thoughts were always so upsetting and depressing, and I was at the point where I was honestly considering giving up. My desire to be the girl I used to be before everything had started going down hill for me was apparently not part of my destiny however, or so I was really starting to believe. Two weeks ago, I had been waiting for a friend to pick me up to go to a movie and what I had gotten instead was a whole new form and a dead father.

As I arrived at the beach with these thoughts circling through my mind, I walked towards a piece of driftwood stranded on the beach, collapsed onto it, and kept my eyes focused on the sandy ground beneath me, not bothering to wipe away the flood of tears that had randomly decided to flow. It had been so long since I had cried, and it seemed like my tear ducts were making up for lost time now. I was doing my best to keep my sobbing under control but the feat was proving to be harder than I thought. At least for the time being, however, they were low enough that the gently crashing of the waves onto the shore could cover the sound from being overheard from a far distance. It would be a problem, however, if someone happened to be walking within a close proximity of me. Luckily, because of the hour, the beach and surrounding area were quiet. At least I was free to wallow in my heartache without being forced to explain what was wrong. When it came time for me to go home, however, that was going to change. Even if my face was dry, I would not be able to hide the fact that I was upset from my mother or brother.

Picking up a rock, I threw it into the water with as much force as I could muster. The gentle splash it made as it hit the water and sank made me feel a bit better and I was surprised to find that it was enough to cease my tears. The sand beneath me was soaked by now, but it wouldn't continue to be now that I had wiped away my tears. Now, anger and annoyance with my ancestors replaced my sadness and I let my anger run freely as I threw another rock into the water, watching as it skipped a few times across the surface before finally sinking to the bottom, never to be seen again. Then, pushing my long, dark curls out of my face, I shifted into a more comfortable position on the piece of driftwood I was sitting on and watched the waves crash gently onto the shore.


	2. Chapter 2: Frustration

**Alright, so as promised, here's the next chapter of the story! I'm not as experienced with writing in Jacob's PoV, but I still like this chapter and I hope you guys do too! Thanks for all the reviews from the first chapter, everyone! It's much appreciated, and makes me feel a lot more confident about this story. The next chapter will be both Jake and Leah, which will be the pattern that I'm going to try to stick with. **

**Chapter 2: Frustration** _**(Jacob's PoV)**_

I had woken up that morning feeling rather annoyed and angry. Edward Cullen wasn't going to let Bella come down to La Push for the bonfire with me and the rest of the pack because he was too protective and thought that a bunch of teenage wolves were too dangerous of company. Yeah, like any of us would actually purposely hurt her. Stupid, wreaking bloodsucker; he was the dangerous one! I, on the other hand, could control myself around her enough to prevent an accident similar to what had happened to Emily after all the practise I'd had, but apparently having a little faith in my ability was too much to ask. My anger, however, was not just targeted at Edward. I was angry at Bella, too, for letting him control her like that and tell her how to life her life. There was something in this world called free will, but Bella had evidently given that up when she started to date the leech. Why would someone ever give up their free will like that? I just didn't get it, and I honestly didn't think that I ever would. If it was me, I'd do whatever the hell I wanted to do and wouldn't care if Edward was happy or not. I could understand his desire to protect her, but it was just so stupid of him to not let her come here, where she would be perfectly safe too. She had come here plenty of times in the past, and had gone back perfectly fine.

At this thought, I growled in frustration and hoisted myself up out of bed, pulling on a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. I was too hot dressed like that, but I had to keep up my normal human being appearance, so I could deal. After getting dressed, I stood in the centre of my tiny room for a moment, thinking about what to do with myself to keep my mind off of the annoyance bubbling up within me. After a few minutes, I dragged myself down the hall and into the kitchen, where my father smiled and wished me a good morning, and I returned his greeting with a muttered "morning," before crossing the room to the fridge and digging around for something to have for breakfast. After finding a breakfast burrito and throwing it into the microwave, I leaned against the counter and waited for it to be ready. It was going to barely fill my huge appetite, but I was feeling far too unmotivated and impatient to stand there and make something more complicated, so I was stuck with that. I would just stop off at Emily and Sam's later to grab something before heading out to patrol if I got to the point where I couldn't stand the hunger anymore, but I was going to avoid the pack for as long as I could today. As my impatience grew, I started to pace around the kitchen as my dad watched me anxiously, then whipped around when the microwave beeped to snatch my breakfast then shoved it into my mouth, basically swallowing it whole. Once that was done, I hurriedly brushed my teeth, pulled on the new sneakers I'd gotten last week, then walked out the door, muttering a quick goodbye to a very confused and irritated Billy.

As I made my way towards the forest, I kept myself in human form, not wanting to have the pack in my head today, and began to run with no particular destination in mind. All I knew was that I just wanted to go somewhere other than home, and possibly to punch something in the process. As my footsteps echoed through the silent trees, my thoughts went back to Bella and I stopped along the path and hit my fist against a tree in frustration, causing it to fall over from the force. Not caring, I simply shrugged and kept moving, feeling a bit better now that I'd taken some of my anger out on something. I would have preferred it to have been Edward's face that I'd punched, but since that would upset Bella and I wasn't allowed on their territory, that wasn't exactly an option. As I continued on my path, I came up to the road leading to First Beach, and decided that it would suffice as a temporary escape.

Stepping out of the forest, I crossed the street and made my way towards the wooden steps that lead down to the beach, trying to keep my desires to kill the bloodsucker at bay. As I got closer, however, my nose caught a familiar scent and I knew even before I saw her sitting on the beach that Leah Clearwater was there too. Sighing with displeasure, I debated walking past her since her back was too me, then decided against it because I had a much better idea. She was throwing rocks into the ocean with such force that they skipped quite a few times before finally disappearing from sight, and I found myself wondering what she was doing here. As I got closer, I could see that she seemed angry, which really wasn't much of a surprise. Rolling my eyes at her rock throwing, I approached her from her left side and plastered my crooked smile onto my face.

"Well, well, well. Look what the dog sniffed out!" I said cheerfully, knowing that she was going to be annoyed by my presence.


End file.
